NZ space rocket company delays launch

New Zealand-based space company Rocket Lab has delayed its first commercial delivery into orbit.

The start-up was due to launch one of its 17-metre rockets from the Mahia Peninsula in the North Island on Saturday afternoon, sending its first fully-fledged business payload into space.

But the attempt had an issue at a tracking dish at a remote monitoring site in the Chatham Islands minutes before take-off.

After trying to fix the problem for about two hours, Rocket Lab announced it had scrubbed it for the day.

Saturday's take-off attempt came on the first day of a two-week window - the second go at the mission after technical issues in April. It follows a series of successful tests.

The company now has until July 6 to keep trying and the next attempt will be made on Monday depending on weather conditions.

US-owned Rocket Lab runs the world's first privately-owned launch facility and focuses on small payloads at low costs.

It is the only small launch provider to have reached orbit.

The company hopes to complete a launch every two weeks in 2019 and weekly in 2020.

Australia's new space agency gets to work on July 1, with a location for its headquarters to be decided towards the end of the year.